Pages

Tuesday, 2 January 2018

Palestinian envoy to United States says he is returning to Washington

The Palestinian envoy to the United States says he is returning to Washington after just one day of "consultations" over President Trump's decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Husam Zomlot said he met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas privately.

He was instructed to return to Washington "immediately", he said.

On Sunday, Mr Abbas said he would not accept any US peace plan following Mr Trump's announcement.

The status of Jerusalem goes to the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the US announcement on 6 December led to protests and clashes in the Gaza Strip.

A UN resolution calling on the US to cancel the decision was backed overwhelmingly by the General Assembly.

In a Facebook post on Monday Mr Zomlot, the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) envoy, said he would be returning to the US after spending time "with loved ones".

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Maliki said on Sunday that talks between Mr Zomlot and Mr Abbas were arranged to "set the decisions needed by the Palestinian leadership ... regarding our relations with the US".